St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-07-20

D-AAnex b.
All OF these three buildings. which
were covered with sheeJ-iTon. and con-
s:dered almost fiTe-prOOf. now lie a
blazing and smoking mass OF ruins, the
tail chimney in Annex 4 alone looming
up. scorched and smOke-begrimed,l like
monument 10 the departed dead.
THE FIRE DISCOVERED.
At 1:45 last evening a gentleman who
was passing the elevator saw flames Is
suing from the roof OF Annex 4. at the
extreme northcTly end. He went
directly to the nearest telephone
and turned in an alarm. but
before the engines could arrive the
whole OF the annex was mass OF seeth-
Ing flame. The fire spread 10 Annex {
in an incredibly short time. and. the ef-
forts OF these present 10 gain any
control seemed like trying TO sweep
back the ocean with broom.
The heat grew intense, ami
Just before the firemen had 10 fall back
an effort was made 10 save the main
elevator by cutting away the trestle
bridge connecting it with Annex a.
The work was prosecuted but
a short time. however. as the
flames soon drove the wOrkmen away.
Bv this time AnneXS A and b We're one
mass of flames, and now and tllen as
wheat bin would break and let the COLI
tents loose. section OF the
sheet iron siding would give way with
noise like thunder and the wheat came
pouring out in torrents. Section by
section the walls fell. and 10y the time
the flames had secured q firm hold upon
the main elevator, the two buildings
were but heaps OF blazing ruins. with
huge piles OF wheat sending out dull
red glare as it slowly burned.
THE INTENSE HEAT.
Bv this time the heat was SO intense
that to approach nearer than 1000 feet
was almost suicidal. Tne trees in the
grove TO the west OF the burn
Ing buildings were powerless to
Withstand the heat. and the
leaves gradually cUrled up and
took on brown hue. The flames quickly
spread from the south end OF the main
elevator. and in less time than it takes
to write it the structure was one blaz-
Ing furnace. sending out a terrific
heat and but little smoke. Over
head hundreds of wild fowl and
small birds circled around. now and
then utterlng Shrlll cries of alarm as the
warm air struck them. Once or twice
bird would venture too near. and in
second would disappear III the flames.
The glare lighted up the country Tor
MANY miles around. and by the light
could be seen thousands of people and
hundreds upon hundreds OF vehicles.
The crowds had even come from ST.
Paul. and truly il was a magnificent
sight. As the flames rolled up and
the bursting wheat bins send their
thousands of bushels OF wheat
pouring into the fiery abyss beneath, one
could not suppress Siudder. The
/ . -..1r. IN.
yond description. and even the most
matter-of-fact and prOSaic man could
not help closing his hands and
gaze at the scene as though fas-
cinated. As the flames progressed
noise of mighty beams breaking could
be heard. and a second later torrent of
wheat would come bursting through the
red-hot iron siding. sending the iron
fving into hundreds of pieces.
ana form 4 huge heap extend
ing clear out to the railway tracks.
The wheat. as il came rushing
forth with resiStleSS force. made pc
culiar grinding noise and took on the
appearance of a EICe waterfall. The
sight. once seen. Will never be forgot
ten-the grandeur Of ii will always be
impressed upon PERSONS mind. 1t
was after midnight when the last
bit OF wall fell and the last
bushel of wheat had gone TO waste.
As near as could be learned last night.
when all was confusion. there were
about !. .100.O00 bushels OF wheat stored
in the three buildings. OF this amount
Washburn. Crosby * Co. owned about
one-half. and the remainder was di-
vided between {. \. Pillsbury IL Co..
a. ID. Mulford and \. ). Sawyer. The
wheat was all storage wheat and IS
total loss. except perhaps a few thOuS-
and bushels which, in breaking out OF
the bin. came so far out that il was not
entirely covered with debris. The
elevator men had supposed that
in the event OF fire nearly ali
the wheat could be saved, as calcula-
tiOnS had been made for having ii going
straight down into the basement. in
stead of out at the side. 1t could not be
learned whether the wheat was insured
or not.
TIE ST. ANTHONY ELEVATOR
was built about year ago. and while
second in size in the city, its equipment
was probably the most complete OF any.
the company being supplied with all
the newest appliances fOr the eXpedi-
tiOus handling OF grain. As will be
seen by the diagram, the central ele-
vatOr of the system has the least
capacity. At one end and connected to
the central building DS an lnclOSed
passageway 200 feet long, built on
trestles. is the largest building,
having capacity of 1,1O0,000
bushels. At the other end of
The central building and neare- to it
is Annex c.. with capacity of 100000
bushels. The buildings were con-
structed of pine, rooted and sided with
corrugated iron. The total capacity of
the plant was 2.300.000 bushels, and the
buildings exclusive OF the land OH
which they stood cost $3.50. GOO. Among
the more prominent members OF the st.
Anthony Elevator company are T. Ii.
.3easly, w. IL. DunwOOdy, John Crosby.
T. B. Casey, 5. \. Harris, \. ). Saw
Yer. the NJ. d. Darlington heirs. c. j.
Martin, a. Y. Martin, John Washburn,